


a little more than rivals

by zackstrife



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Genre: F/F, Fluff, M/M, eirika and tana are the best wingmen, they're kind of a side ship in this but they're important, this is just kind of a dumb excuse for a plot so i could write some fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 05:51:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15042164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zackstrife/pseuds/zackstrife
Summary: A confession from Eirika and Tana turns to a mischievous plot revolving around their brothers.





	a little more than rivals

**Author's Note:**

> hi this is the first time i've ever written a fic!  
> i'm sorry this isn't the best thing ever, but i wanted to try my hand at writing something after inspiration hit!!  
> this actually ended up being a lot longer than i intended, it was supposed to be around a page but ended up being 3 haha oops  
> i hope you enjoy this silly little thing!

The sun was at its high as two girls walked in line out onto Castle Frelia’s archery range. The shorter of the two walked ahead with a slightly excited bounce, her dark curls flailing with every step. The taller had a more reserved gait, her usually kind expression darkened with a sense of nervousness. The duo stopped only when they saw their person of interest: a young man clad in green shooting targets with sharp precision.

“Innes, Innes! Hey, we have something to tell you!” Tana excitedly waved over the sharp shooting figure.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Eirika spoke up quietly from behind her companion, stepping forward to stand by her.

“Oh please, it’s fine! Are you worried that he actually does hold feelings for you?”

“Er, well-”

“What is it, Tana?” Innes cut her off. He had approached them in a very annoyed manner, clearly upset that his precious training had been interrupted. “I have better uses for my time than frivolous chatter.”

“This is important!” Tana replied indignantly. “Don’t you want to know the status of your sister’s love life?”

At this, the archer looked surprised. “What do you mean?”

Tana entwined her fingers with Eirika’s. “We’re officially dating!” She proclaimed proudly. Eirika looked between the two siblings until settling her gaze on Tana, smiling softly.

Innes’s expression relaxed slightly. “Oh. Well, congratulations I suppose. It is no easy feat to win my sister’s heart over.”

Tana laughed and leaned into her girlfriend. “Oh trust me, she knows.”

After a brief kiss on Tana’s forehead, the princess of Renais looked up at Innes. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, though? Didn’t you say you loved me?”

Innes blinked in shock. Pausing to collect his words, the strategist’s usually cool visage was awfully embarrassed. “Oh yes. I suppose I did say that.” He laughed weakly. It was as though Innes was caught committing a crime. “What if I told you it was all a jest? A simple… test of wit. To see if you could resist my charm.”

“Oh be real. What charm? You can’t lie your way out of this one, Innes. You barely even talk to Eirika, let alone try to court her! Your ‘charm’ is a total sham.” Tana playfully hit her brother.

Innes awkwardly inched away. “I, um, should get going now. I promised Ephraim I’d spar with him today and I wouldn’t want to be late to a battle with my fated rival.”

“Of course, your boyfriend is much more important that your dear sister.” Tana retorted.

“Ephraim is not my boyfriend!” The Frelian prince huffed before making his speedy leave.

After a few moments where the only sound heard was Innes running off to meet his ‘fated rival’ at the training grounds, Eirika (who seemed to have been holding her breath the entire time) sighed deeply. “I’m glad we didn’t run into any problems. But why would Innes feel the need to lie about loving me?”

Tana shrugged in response. “Probably to make others think that he isn’t head over heels for Ephraim. He doesn’t like it when his strategies are figured out, let alone his own feelings.”

Eirika laughed. “You’re definitely right. All he does is talk about my brother! Didn’t he say something about imagining him wrestle a shark?”

Her girlfriend nodded. “Yup. And yet he still expects us to believe his lies? I just don’t know how to get him to admit it, though.”

The princess of Renais sat quietly in thought for a moment. Then, she perked up with a smile. “I have an idea.”

 

That evening, Innes was, as per usual, locked up in his study reading. However, what was unprecedented was the arrival of his little sister. Tana barged into the room, pulled up a chair, and sat next to her brother. The pegasus knight looked up at him with her face cupped in her hands, legs swinging back and forth. Acknowledging his defeat, Innes put his book down with an exaggerated sigh. “What is it, Tana?”

“I was just wondering if I could ask you some questions.”

“Well since you’re already wasting my time, why not?” The Frelian prince turned towards her and crossed his arms.

While this exchange was happening, Eirika silently led her twin to the prince’s study. “Okay, now be quiet as we enter the room. Don’t let Innes see you.” She told Ephraim as they stopped in front of the room.

“Why are we doing this, Eirika? I mean, I know we’re all friends but you and I are still Castle Frelia’s guests. If anything, you should be the one preventing this!” Ephraim questioned, looking around the dimly lit hall.

“I told you to be quiet! You’ll see what we’re doing soon.” Eirika whispered in reply before opening the door and stepping inside without a sound, motioning for her brother to do the same.

Tana, meanwhile, had a steady stream of questions for Innes. In response, Innes had a steady stream of answers, though with a bored expression.

“What country neighbors Frelia to the south?”

“Renais.”

“Who is the leader of Renais?”

“King Fado.”

“Who are King Fado’s children?”

“Princess Eirika and Prince Ephraim.”

“Which of the two prefers to fight with a lance?”

“Ephraim.”

“Which of the two is taller?”

“Ephraim.”

“Who is your rival?”

“Ephraim.”

“Who do you fancy?”

“Ephraim.”

Upon realization of what he had just said, Innes had began to sputter. “You… you tricked me!” He pointed accusingly at his sister, trying to hide the creeping blush on his face.

Tana simply laughed in response. “That’s all for my inquiries. Now, you should probably turn around.” She hopped out of her seat and skipped cheerfully over to Eirika.

Following Tana with his gaze, Innes abruptly stood when he noticed the man in question standing next to Eirika, just as red as Innes himself was. “Ephraim! What are you doing here?” The archer exclaimed loudly, taking a step back.

Ephraim laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “I wasn’t aware you felt that way, Innes.” He looked up to meet eyes with the man opposite to him, and a moment of silence befell the four individuals in the room.

After the moment passed, Eirika spoke up with a smile. “Well! We’ll leave you two to it.” She and Tana quickly left the room and shut the door, though it was clear they were waiting outside the room as there was no sound of footsteps afterwards.

Innes looked between the door and the prince of Renais. Damn his blasted sister for setting him up like that and damn his blasted face for betraying his true feelings by turning a shade of dark rouge! “Ephraim, listen, it was a set up! I think of you as nothing more than a rival. Now, would you kindly leave? I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break into my study again.” It was clear that Innes was struggling to keep his expression steady, he wished he could just hide and never show face again.

Ephraim, surprisingly, laughed softly and took a cautious step forward. “Really? Well, that’s a shame. If you had asked me who I fancy, I’d have said you.” Ephraim was just as red as Innes, yet he still managed to keep eye contact. How dare he be so brave?

Caught up in how lionhearted his handsome rival was, the words that he said didn’t register in Innes’s mind until Ephraim’s lips were an inch away from his own. As if in a trance, Innes leaned in. Their lips touched for only a brief moment, but to the archer it felt like an eternity. And yet, it ended all too soon when Ephraim leaned away with a slight smirk. “I never thought you to be romantic, Innes.”

Outside the room, there was a muffled sound of cheering that was quickly shushed up.

Innes rolled his eyes, though in good nature. “Hmph. I’m only romantic to certain people.”

“And I suppose I’m ‘certain people?’”

“Don’t flatter yourself too much.”

The two princes laughed in unison, the joyous sound replacing the awkward tension that filled the room previously.

“I guess Renais and Frelia really have no choice but to unite one day, both of their princes and princesses are together.” Ephraim remarked lightly once the laughter subsided.

“Bold of you to assume that we’re together now.” Innes retorted, though his smile never subsided.

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Ephraim feigned mock shock. “How rude of me! Let me try that again.” He bowed deeply and extended his hand to Innes. “Dear Prince of Frelia, will you take my hand and lovingly stand by my side as my one and only love?”

The grandeur gesture elicited more laughter from the usually cold prince. “Well, when you put it that way, who am I to refuse you? Of course I accept.” Innes took Ephraim’s hand and smiled warmly at him. “We should probably go tell our sisters that they can stop hiding outside my study now. They got what they wanted.”

“Well, the ends justify the means.” Ephraim replied, grasping onto his boyfriend’s hand with a smile. “Let’s go together.”

**Author's Note:**

> if you made it all this way, thank you so so much!!  
> i may delete this because i don't like it too much, but still i'm happy i made it :)  
> i originally intended for it to be set in the FEH universe, but then i sorta shifted the plot around... i actually haven't played too much of FE8, but i really like ephinnes and eiritana!! please tell me if there's something inconsistent with canon that i have included!!  
> this is sort of inspired from the FEH summer banner, i got innes today and i love him a lot!  
> also yes i included a meme in this i'm so sorry  
> thank you so much for reading and i hope you have a nice day!! <3  
> (also i have so much newfound respect for all you regular fic writers, it was hard to write one short fic how do you guys write such long works?! all of you are braver than any us marine...)


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